A good bassist, will have alot of Riffs that they have
learned that they can recall in playing live or studio
situations, when writing and creating a new song, or used
for a basic format when improvising while playing live.
This lesson will tend to lean more twoard giving you an
idea of how to alternate riffs when playing. Lets begin
by learning the new riff for this lesson.
Riff 1
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :--------7--5------------------------------------------
A :--------------7--5------------------------------------
E :--5--5--------------8---------------------------------
Warm up on this Riff and play it a few times, as well as
playing the Riff we reviewed in the beginning of this lesson.
By comparing the 2 Riffs, you can see how both Riffs were
taken from the Pentatonic Scale, and look similar, but yet
are different in sound.This is a simple, however , very
effective tool for the seasoned Bass Guitarist. I'm going
to keep this lesson short and to the point. Next I will show
you how you can alternate the 2 Riffs, as an opening line for
a song.
These are blues bassed riffs, which are commonly known among
most experienced bassist.
___________________________________________________
ALTERNATING RIFFS
I think this next part will be self explanatory after you
give these riffs a few trys.Also, keep in mind the old saying
that " Rome was not built in a day" so if your still in the
early stages of learning, you should know it's ok to re-read,
and rehearse these Riffs several times, before you may start
to see the entire picture.
Lets move on to the Alternating Riffs.Beginning the first riff
from lesson 1, alternating to riff 1 from this lesson (lesson 2)
Example 1
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :-----7--5---5--7--------7--5--------------------------
A :----------7------------------7--5---------------------
E :-5-5-----------------5-5-----------8------------------
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :-----7--5---5--7---------7--5-------------------------
A :----------7-------------------7--5--------------------
E :-5-5-----------------5--5----------8------------------
_____________________________________________________
Now that you have the basic idea, This next part I will use
the 3 scale progression from lesson 1, which we used for Riff
Building, along with todays Alternating Riff, to provide you
with an entire picture of how to begin alternating Riffs.If
you have a printer, it would be a good idea, to print out both
lessons, and begin a folder, to organize, compare and review
your lessons.
The next part of this lesson, will use the alternating riffs,
as a bassist would play during the course of an entire song.
Let's begin.
A
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :-----7--5---5--7-----7--5--------------7--5---5--7----
A :----------7---------------7--5--------------7---------
E :-5-5--------------5-5----------8---5-5----------------
D
G :----------------------7--5---5--7-----7--5------------
D :-----7--5------------------7---------------7--5-------
A :----------7--5----5-5-------------5-5-----------8-----
E :-5-5-----------8--------------------------------------
A E
G :---------------------------------------9--7---7--9----
D :------7--5---5--7-----7--5------------------9---------
A :-----------7---------------7--5-----7-7---------------
E :-5-5---------------5-5----------8-------------------
D A
G :-----7--5---------------------------------------------
D :----------7--5---------7--5---5--7-----7--5-----------
A :-5-5-----------8------------7---------------7--5------
E :-------------------5-5--------------5-5----------8----
Start Over or End